Thursday 16 September 2010

Opinions on Colour

First of all thank you all so much for all your support and comments on my last post. My mum's still having yet more tests and sees the specialist again tomorrow, but seems to think they may be closer to a diagnosis, we'll see. She sounds a bit brighter, and is glad now her endoscopy is over!

Anyway, onto other things for now.

I love colour. I'm very, very fussy too, I know which combinations I like and which I don't. None of those complimentary yellows-with-purples and blue-with-oranges thank you very much, although red with green is fine at Christmas. Just about.

As a smallish girl I remember one Christmas my very favourite present of all was a big set of wax crayons - not just your normal 7 colours, I mean a really big set with 5 greens, 3 pinks, 4 purples...you get the idea. I think I must have been about seven. I looked at all the colours for ages - I didn't want to use them, I just wanted to line them all up in a lovely harmonious order - graduating the colours - no clashes. When I was a few years older I got some posh watercolour pencils in a tin - I still have them. They always had to go in the tin in the same order - again, no clashes next to each other, just the best order for adjacent colours to merge together as much as possible.
I'm still, of course, exactly the same, because I think that sort of thing is a really fundamental part of who you are. Sadly I don't have time to spend hours lining things up in beautiful harmonious colour-sequences all day, but I can at least ban bright yellow from the garden and grow single-colour flowers in my chosen colours ( magenta and orange often - I copy Sarah Raven much of the time and get my seeds from her). I don't like bright yellow, unless it's sunflowers, and even then I prefer the ruby red ones.

Aren't people strange? I plan to become more eccentric as I age.

Anyway, I absolutely love choosing and combining colours in my felting - it's one of the reasons I love the process so much, the ability to blend layers of different colours and merge them together. I have, of course, tended to use colours I'm drawn to myself - I've never made a bright yellow anything, nor grey, nor beige, I can't wear those colours and just don't feel positive about them!
But it's really good to be forced to think outside your own box. The times when friends have asked me to make particular things in colour combinations they've chosen have been good for me, and I've discovered I like the end results even though I wouldn't have chosen them myself.

Why am I rambling about this now?
Well I had a lovely lady buy some hairslides from my website last week, and she asked if I could make two more, in navy and maroon. These are some of my normal colours, bright or light, not sombre at all.

I was quite unsure about such deep colours but made a small selection of navy, plum and maroon flowers,

and found that with the beads (beautiful lustred ones that you can't see fully in the photo) and the green leaf

I did like them after all, and I was glad to be taken into slightly new colour territory. So I perhaps need to experiment with new combinations every now and again and not be too set in my ways!

Of course we should stick with what we love best and be true to our own styles and designs, but it did make me think more about experimenting a bit. Do you stay in your comfort zone of styles and colours if you craft, or in the way you dress or furnish your home, or are you always trying new things out?!

11 comments:

  1. I'm definitely a stick to my comfort zone sort of a girl. I know what I like and stick to that I'm afraid.

    Lovely hair slides, I like all the plum colours.

    Alison
    x

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  2. I agree, I feel that felting is a fabulous way to play with color combos. My drawing and painting skills have always left much to be desired, but I love combining colors with wool, almost like painting.... I also love the "jewel tone" colors of your hairslides! Perfect for Fall.

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  3. The hairslides are lovely!

    I smiled when I read you would line up your crayons and pencil crayons *just so*. When I was young, I lined all of mine up: yellow, pink, blue, green...and went from there. But always it was the first four. Not exactly coordinated. LOL.

    I don't care for lemon yellow, the kind of yellow that hurts one's eyes, but I confess I do LOVE yellow. Soft yellows like a cold pat of butter. Creamy yellow. And deeper muted golds. And sage greens, apple and pear greens. My whole house is in yellow and green, soft shades--you'd hate it. LOL. But I *need* those colours for my soul. Yellow to mimic sunshine, I suppose, and the green to remind me of the greens of Spring.

    Yet I can't wear those colours at all. My best colours to wear are blues, especially medium tones, and aqua. But I wouldn't decorate with them.

    So I'm very set in my colour ways!

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  4. Oh Felted House!! I love colour - the brighter the better and I tend to go for just this side of garish! LOL!!! Pinks, reds and bright bright yellow!! Oh but deep purple - violets - indigos!! Yum, yum, yum!!! It's so weird when me and the ex were decorating our house - I loved his choice of natural wood in very subtle shades, very conservative colours but lovely and then I think I went and ruined that all with my magenta curtains! LOL! Nevermind that now!

    These clips are lovely!!! I think with your artist's eye you can go crazy with colour but in a disciplined aesthetic manner (not like me!).

    I'm keeping a lighted candle in my heart for your mum! Hello to Archie!!
    Take care
    x

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  5. I love earth tones. Having said that, we have a BRIGHT yellow guest room, a periwinkle purple bath, a deep denim blue wall in the study, and our kitchen is bright grass green and aqua (sort of Simpsonsesque!)
    Nothing wrong with trying new things...that way you can hone your eccentricities to a fine point! I'm looking forward to carrying a cane (even if I don't need it) and prodding people, just for fun. heh heh.
    Prayers for your Mom, and good wishes for her appointment tomorrow.

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  6. I agree, its hard to break out of your own comfort zone. I always lean towards purples/lilacs and greens, I find them a soothing colour combination, and try as I might to use reds and brighter colours, I just can't.
    But now you've got me motivated, and I'm going to try and create something in different colours this week.
    Hope your mum gets better soon, and they get the bottom of her problem.

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  7. I like the plum colour very much. I tend to go through phases with colour - sometimes lots of black but at the moment I'm drawn to lots of greens & purples.

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  8. I agree that it is easy to stick with certain colours - especially when clothes shopping when your eyes are just drawn to the old favourites.

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  9. oh yes I am a wimp when it comes to experimenting, really must get more brave :-) love your new navy and maroon slides, I think the green and beads is what really sets them off !

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  10. I still have to organise my colours very carefully, mostly in rainbow order ... colour has to be just right in my classroom or it really bothers me! I don't like yellow much - too garish. I love rich reds, and shades of blues and aquas ... I love the colours you use in your felting. I like the new rich colours too ... very autumnal! Love Kathy xxx

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  11. I'm into earth tones, I love them and usually I also wear those colours- mainly sage green, any kind of brown, beige and soft yellows/creamy white sometimes.
    I just love the hairclips, they're wonderful, I'll have a look at them in detail!
    Hope your mum gets better soon,
    love,
    Annalisa

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